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| The UAE hopes to launch the lunar module in 2022 |
Japanese lunar robotics company ispace has announced that it will send a lunar module from the United Arab Emirates to the moon in 2022.
A team of engineers and scientists from the MBRSC in Dubai is building the Lunar Rover, while ispace is transporting it via the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The missile was originally scheduled to be launched from Florida to reach previously unexplored areas of the Moon. This mission is the first moon landing mission from ispace.
The Japanese startup announced that it is also supplying the UAE with lunar communication technology.
According to Adnan Al Rayes, Director of the Mars 2117 Program at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, ispace is also equipped with a spacecraft that transports the spacecraft from orbit to the surface of the moon.
Only three countries - the United States, Russia and China - have managed to land a spaceship on the surface of the Moon.
The UAE had originally planned to send MRLs in 2024, but Al Rayyes said: The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) saw the opportunity earlier to launch ispace.
The UAE mission hopes to learn more about moon dust, moon soil, and airless objects, which are space objects that have no atmosphere.
Reyes said one of the experiments could also help determine the type of material used in the spacesuit or landing system used to take people to the moon, and the landing site will be announced soon.
Rashid's Lunar Visit Unit is named after Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the former ruler of Dubai. It has six tools and weighs less than 10 kg.
The lunar module uses two high-resolution cameras, a microscope camera and a thermal imaging camera to collect data and images and send them to scientists on Earth.
One of its challenges is adapting to the moon's harsh environment, as the temperature can drop to minus 200 degrees Celsius.
NASA's goal is to send a $ 250 million rover called VIPER to the south pole of the moon in 2023.
Other countries, including the United Kingdom, Russia and Japan, are also planning to implement moon landing plans.
Ispace said its vision is to have a settlement on the moon by 2040 and the first step is to find water.
The Emirates mission to the Moon is part of the UAE's broader strategy to reach Mars by 2117.
Scientists say: Unmanned missions could be the lifeblood of the project.
Last year, the United Arab Emirates successfully launched the Hope probe. This was the country's first mission to explore Mars.
In February, the probe reached the red planet and made its first attempt to enter orbit around the planet.
Al-Rayyes said: The moon is our gateway to Mars, and our strategy for Mars 2117 is our long-term vision to establish colonies on Mars.
He added: To do this, we need to focus on developing science and technology and using the moon to test these technologies.